America’s housing law loopholes are just big enough for illegal immigrants to crawl through, according to one expert who warns that tenants’ rights laws make it hard to dislodge squatters.
“We have masses coming in. They’re going to be looking for places to live. And if we don’t have the housing for them, if they’re coming in with no money, they can’t rent the traditional way,” Flash Shelton, founder of the United Handyman Association and SquatterHunters.com, said, according to Fox News.
Shelton used innovative tactics to dislodge squatters from his mother’s house in 2019, and has emerged as an advocate to help others facing the difficult chore of ridding a property of people who choose to remain.
The map of tenants’ rights laws is varied, because it is a local or state issue. Many states require a civil suit process to evict someone, which is burdensome and time-consuming.
Once illegal immigrants get wind of the rights they have as squatters, “our squatter situation is going to go beyond control,” Shelton said.
Shelton noted that squatters are already emboldened by local laws, adding, “What are we going to do later when we have a million people squatting in this country?”
Shelton said the housing picture will grow worse “when, not only do we have a border issue that we can’t even figure out, but now we have people that are being mentally, financially, physically messed with because they’ve lost their home to all of these people?”
“Regardless of how you feel politically or morally about the situation, put that aside and just think about the masses,” Shelton said.
Almost 7.3 million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. since the beginning of 2021, according to Fox News.
Should squatting be illegal?
“We have irresponsibly opened a door for a whole lot of people to come into this country, and we aren’t prepared to deal with them,” Shelton said.
“What’s the negative for these people to then start taking over these houses?” he said.
Shelton predicted a “nightmare scenario” without laws that crack down on squatters.
“I’m spending all this time trying to bring awareness to squatting and bring awareness to how the law needs to change,” Shelton said. “Is it going to get worse before it gets better? I think it’s already there.”
“I think it’s going to just get beyond repair at some point,” he said.
Atlanta is already reeling with an estimated 1,200 homes taken over by squatters, according to Fox News. Shelton said making squatting a terrorist act might be the next step needed to regain control.
“If we were to criminalize it, that would enable us to send in the National Guard to sweep that whole neighborhood and get those 1,200 houses clear,” he said.
Shelton has posted a petition on Change.org to support making squatting illegal. He also set up a GoFundMe appeal that has raised more than $8,000 toward the cause.
